Beyond borders – within Vietnam: a mixed-method study of student agency and intranational migration in private higher education

Thesis

This explanatory sequential mixed-methods study investigated the manners in which Vietnamese undergraduate students at Fulbright University Vietnam (FUV), the nation’s first American-style liberal arts institution, perceive their agentic powers and reflect on their self-development processes. The research elucidated how the demographic factors of migration status (MS) and socioeconomic status (SES) interact with FUV’s American-style institutional structures to influence students’ perceived agency and overall undergraduate experiences. Specifically, the study compared the experiences of local students with those of intranational migrants, as well as contrasted the perceptions and experiences of higher SES students against those of lower SES students.

Quantitative data collected from 52 actively enrolled senior and junior students (N = 52), using the Assessment Tool for Perceived Agency (ATPA-22), demonstrated that intranational migrants reported significantly higher perceived agency than local students. Moreover, the quantitative findings indicated no statistical significance regarding the main effect of SES or the interactive effect of SES and MS on perceived agency. The ensued qualitative interviews with eight previous ATPA-22 survey respondents (n = 8) further explored these results, revealing the complex interplay of cultural adaptation, financial pressures, institutional enables and constraints, employability-related anxieties and motivations as well as spirituality in shaping student agency.

Ultimately, the research underscores the broader implications of these findings for shaping practices and developing programmes in HE institutions within the gradually privatising and internationalising Vietnamese HE landscape. In particular, the study advocates for a holistic approach to student support that recognises and addresses the unique barriers faced by diverse student populations, fostering a more inclusive and equitable HE environment. This approach is crucial for HE institutions like FUV to enhance their student support strategies, and for Vietnam to maximise the potential of its private HE sector during this period of rapid transformation, ensuring that every student can thrive in a globalised academic and professional landscape within their homeland. The results also carry broader implications for HE institutions with diverse student bodies across the world.

Authors: Le, UNP

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-xrpde81kz
• Type of award: MSc taught course
• Level of award: Masters
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: HE2024; institutional structures; liberal arts; intranational migration; mixed methods; higher education; student agency; explanatory sequential mixed methods; Vietnam; ATPA-22; socio-economic status; HE; ANOVA
• Subjects: Education, Higher; Education; Art; Socio-economic status; Migration, Internal; Mixed methods research; Analysis of variance